Nikki Haley accepts the office of governor of South Carolina

Nikki Haley accepts the office of governor of South Carolina

The South Carolina governor-elect will be sworn into office, marking the first time a woman has led the state, and as an Indian American, the first non-white leader as well. Thousands of well-wishers will brave the cold weather to mark the occasion.

Preparations are underway for the inauguration of Governor-elect Nikki Haley. Wednesday, the state will welcome it's 116th governor.


Governor-elect Haley made history on election night, and is now on the verge of becoming the new leader of South Carolina, the state's first non-white and female governor. Dr. Jeri Cabot, a political science professor at the College of Charleston says Haley rode the Tea Party wave to the governor's mansion. Cabot says, "She broke through barriers that this state had put in place. It is really a remarkable story. It's about timing, it's about the wave of conservative ideology that broke over the United States starting with the post 2008 election."

Nikki Haley

The soon to be governor of South Carolina received several prominent and key endorsements during her campaign run, including former South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford, and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Cabot says, "South Carolina reform put up hundreds and thousands of dollars to do an add campaign during the primaries, and you had the Palin visit as well, and the backlash against the people coming out about these elicit sexual affairs. I think that actually helped her."

38-year-old Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, and is of Indian descent. Cabot says her unique qualities and her message connects with voters. Dr. Cabot says, "She personified her message. She was different. She looked different. She dressed differently. Her colors were different. I mean when you think back, and you remember those debates during the primary, and how she stood out. She would always be in the middle in her bright colored suits. She really personified the message. I'm going to do things differently. For South Carolina it means national attention for us. It comes down to what she can accomplish."
Governor-elect Nikki Haley represented Lexington county in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010.

Background of Nikki Haley

PERSONAL LIFE
Nikki Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina. Her parents Dr. Ajit and Raj Randhawa are Indian Punjabi Sikh immigrants from Amritsar and she has an older brother Mitti, sister Simran Singh, and younger brother Charan. She went to Clemson University and majored in Accounting and then joined the FCR Corporation before joining her mother's business in 1994.[9]The family business grew to a multi million dollar company.

Haley was raised in a Sikh family, and identifies herself as a Christian, and sits on the board for Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church, Medmission. On September 6, 1996 she married Michael Haley, in a Methodist church ceremony. Michael is a federal employee with the United States Department of the Army and an officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard. Together they have two children, Rena and Nalin. Haley's brother Mitti is an active duty officer who has served in the U.S. Army for the past 20 years.
Candidate for South Carolina governor
On May 14, 2009, Nikki Haley announced she is running for the Republican nomination for Governor of South Carolina in 2010.
On November 11, 2009, Nikki Haley was endorsed by Jenny Sanford, the first lady of South Carolina. Haley was also endorsed by former Alaska Governor and GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin and former Massachusetts Governor and GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Recently she was hit by a sex scandal which is debied by her.
The mother-of-two, 38, whose husband is a United States Army reserves officer, has been hit by allegations she had a "physical" relationship with commentator Will Folks.
The claims are threatening to derail her campaign to replace the disgraced former governor Mark Sanford, who fell from grace after he was forced to admit having an affair. It is the latest scandal to hit South Carolina which is notorious for its brutal political culture.
The controversy erupted when Mr Folks posted a statement on his website claiming that "several years ago, prior to my marriage, I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Nikki. That's it".
Mr Folks offered no proof and later posted links to 26 articles covering his claim, stating that he had "uncharacteristically shut his pie hole in the wake of this morning's seismic revelations" and would maintain his silence. Mrs Haley, who was elected to South Carolina's House of Representatives 2004, has responded by saying the claim is a "disgraceful smear".
"I have been 100 per cent faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage. This claim against me is categorically and totally false. It is quite simply South Carolina politics at its worst," she said.
Mr Folks is a former aide to Mr Sanford, who famously told staff he was "hiking the Appalachian trail" while secretly flying to Argentina to meet his mistress María Belén Chapur. He later confessed all in a tearful press conference in which he said he wanted to be with his Argentine "soulmate".
Mr Folks pleaded guilty in 2005 to a charge of criminal domestic violence after police said he kicked open a door at the home he shared with a lobbyist and pushed her into a piece of furniture. He received a 30-day suspended sentence.
Mrs Palin, the former Alaska governor and possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate, has leapt to the defence of Mrs Haley, who had already become a heroine of the anti-government "tea party" movement that is becoming a major force in American politics.
"When Nikki and I held her endorsement rally on the steps of the beautiful and historic South Carolina state house a few weeks ago, I warned her and her family that she would be targeted because she's a threat to a corrupt political machine, and she would be put through some hell," said Mrs Palin.
"That, unfortunately, is the nature of the beast in politics today – especially for conservative "underdog" candidates who surge in the polls and threaten to shake things up so government can be put back on the side of the people."
Mrs Palin said that she told Mrs Haley in a telephone call: "Hang in there. I've been there. Any lies told about you will strengthen your resolve to clean up political and media corruption. You and your supporters will grow stronger through things like this."
Former governor Mr Sanford's jilted wife has also endorsed Mrs Haley, an Indian-American, was born Nimrata Randhawa. Mrs Haley's parents are Pubjabi Sikhs immigrants originally from Amritsar.
Mrs Haley, an accountancy graduate who used to work in her mother's multi-million dollar clothing firm started Exotica International, became the front-runner in the South Carolina race after Mrs Palin gave her backing.
Erick Erickson, South Carolina's most prominent conservative blogger, wrote that Mrs Haley had been smeared by "good old boys" who did not appreciate an "upstart" politician demanding transparency.
He concluded, Mr Folks was not a plausible candidate to be her lover: "Hot women do not cheat on men in uniform with ugly, poor dudes."

In shortly:
Nikki is a graduate of Clemson University with a B.S. in Accounting. After graduation, Nikki became the Accounting Supervisor of FCR, Inc. in Charlotte, NC, where she managed a staff that was responsible for the accounting and reporting of the corporation and five of its subsidiary companies.

In 1996, after educating herself in the corporate world, she returned as Controller in the family business, Exotica International, Inc, where she started at the age of 11.

She served as member of the Board of Directors of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce before the business relocated to Lexington County. Currently, she serves as a member of the Board of Directors, the Government Relations Committee, and the Doris Burkett Scholarship Committee of the Lexington County Chamber and is co-chairing the Lexington Gala for 2004.

Nikki is also the Treasurer and President-Elect of the Greater Columbia Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, a member of the Lexington Medical Foundation and 2004 Lake Murray Dam Walk Committee benefiting Becky’s Place, the West Metro Republican Women, the Lexington County Republicans, Magnolia Junior Women’s Society of Lexington, the PTA, and Homeroom Mom for her daughter’s kindergarten class.

Nikki is also the Treasurer and President-Elect of the Greater Columbia Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, a member of the Lexington Medical Foundation and 2004 Lake Murray Dam Walk Committee benefiting Becky’s Place, the West Metro Republican Women, the Lexington County Republicans, Magnolia Junior Women’s Society of Lexington, the PTA, and Homeroom Mom for her daughter’s kindergarten class.